Matt Majors

On Friday, a day after water levels swelled to more than 14 feet in the North Chickamauga Creek Gorge, Chris Brigman went kayaking on the creek.

The Rock Creek Down Under store manager heads for the popular whitewater spot every time it rains between two and four inches, as do many other kayak enthusiasts, he said. By the time he got to the creek on Friday, it had dropped to about four feet, by his estimate, which is normal for kayaking.

“It’s a pretty big stream bed, got a large watershed, so when it rains a lot ... the water rises pretty quickly,” Mr. Brigman said.

One avid kayaker braved the above-normal water levels Thursday, which may have led to his death.

Searchers found the body of 31-year-old kayaker Russell Burrow on Saturday morning near the Thrasher Pike Bridge. Friends said he’d gone kayaking on the creek after work Thursday. Mr. Burrow’s boat was found more than half a mile downstream from his body.

Rapidly rising water becomes dangerous because hazards such as trees and large rocks sink below sight and kayakers can get caught in debris that wouldn’t pose a danger if the water level was lower, Mr. Brigman said. If kayakers can see the hazards, they can maneuver around them. But once caught in them, water can push boats over, leaving people upside down or forcing them to come out of their kayaks, he said.

“If you’re out of your boat in a situation like that, (the water) basically will push you wherever it wants you to go,” he said. “You just lose control.”

Officials are calling Mr. Burrow’s death an apparent drowning because no witnesses were present to describe the exact circumstances, said Officer Matt Majors with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

“There’s just so many different scenarios that could have happened,” Officer Majors said. “We don’t know what triggered it. We don’t know if it was a fall out of the boat or anything else.”

About a decade has passed since a person died while kayaking in the area, said Jim Poplin, chief of Hamilton County Special Tactics and Rescue Services. The last death occurred in Big Possum Creek on Bakewell Mountain when a kayaker became stuck between rocks, he said.

While no regulation prohibits solo kayaking in the gorge, paddlers are encouraged to travel with others, said Larry Cook, executive director of the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy.

“It’s definitely a sport (in which) it’s a good idea to be paddling with other people, because there are situations just out of your control where it’s good to have somebody who can help you out if you get into a dangerous situation,” he said.

While rangers regularly patrol the area, none are stationed constantly at the gorge, he said.